O Natal dos Mitchell

Sweet and cute Hallmark movie, one of the better ones in the recent past. The cast is very good and Robert Buckley is so likeable in the lead and he co-wrote the story!

Listen, if you're watching Hallmark Christmas movies expecting them to be Citizen Kane, you need to stop watching. BUT, when they get it right, they are fun, idyllic and take you away from reality for a couple of hours. Of course they're formulaic. The Christmas House is fun, and formulaic. However, finally, Hallmark has shown that all families do not look the same. It is so nice to see the LGBTQ community represented, and not in a funny best friend way. Rather, as it should be, just like everyone else. It made me so happy to see this, and I applaud Hallmark for realizing the importance of representation. Is it my favorite Hallmark Christmas movie? Nope, but, I will remember it nonetheless. Well done.

I was excited to watch the first Hallmark Christmas movie with gay couple (though I recall a lesbian couple in a recent one...). This is a feel good family movie with various subplots. The newly retired parents have grown apart, the actor son has career issues, and the younger, gay son and his husband are trying to adopt a baby. They all converge to put on a crazy, over-decorated house that's open to the public like they did years ago. Nice, feel good movie. I really enjoyed the inclusion of an LGBT storyline and that the couple was just a normal part of the family. Well done, Hallmark!

Wow. This is a wonderful Hallmark Christmas movie. I am impressed. I mean, I like Hallmark films, but this is above and beyond what I have seen thus far during the 2020 Christmas movie season. It is a fun, warm and heartfelt story. The script is great. It is tough developing a story in 80 minutes. But the writers here have done an excellent job. The sub-plots were all engaging: Mike and Andi's romance, the development of Mike and Noah's relationship (teaching magic), the mother and father's marriage troubles, and Brandon and Jake's adoption. The writers do a good job too with the dialogue and interaction between the characters, the family members. Sure, it is a predictable plot, but it is a made-for-television Christmas movie (in a very predictable genre of film to boot). The more important element here for me is: did it pull me in, did it engage me? It did, from the start. Moreover, I found myself laughing out loud a little thru-out the film, which is a different experience for me when watching Hallmark movies; from the 'Handsom Justice' opening clip, father jokes, the competition between the sons, the advertisement Mike and Noah made, to the closing scene of the deodorant commercial, it was a rather funny/fun Christmas movie. The acting, overall, was excellent for this genre of film. Robert Buckley (as Mike) had an impressive performance. It is nice seeing him on screen again, as I liked his character in One Tree Hill. Treat Williams (as Bill), Sharon Lawrence (as Phylis), and Jonathan Bennett (as Brandon) all had strong performances. The remaining supporting cast was great, especially Noah and the magician. Finally, there was plenty of Christmas cheer; the scenery, props and sets were all very festive. Overall, a very good Christmas movie by Hallmark this year. It is well worth a watch.

'The Christmas House' did sound like a lovely film on paper. While 2020 was not a consistent year for Hallmark when it came to their Christmas films, and actually their films in general, there were some real surprise gems that were so much better than expected. Was a bit worried about it being too predictable and that it would be a more of the same Christmas in the family sort of film that has been seen a good deal recently with varied success.

As said, 2020 did see some real surprises in a good way in what was an inconsistent (not unexpected, as all their years are that and also the terrible unforeseen circumstances) year for Hallmark. 'The Christmas House' is towards being one of the best of theirs from the year and was more refreshing and entertaining than most of them too. Am one of those that absolutely welcomed the inclusion of diversity and it was handled in good taste in placement and representation, not thrown in or shoved in the face. Do wish though on a side note that the subplot in question, which was a relatable one, was bigger.

It has a couple of slow-ish stretches early on and the whole mother and father relationship is rushed and resolved too patly. Formula wise, it is predictable.

Did think that there could have been a few less subplots and more time could have been devoted to fleshing out character motivations more, especially the reason for the planned separation which is agreed too vague.

Everything else however is on point. While Robert Buckley appeals in his role and has a lot of likeability, Treat Williams and Sharon Lawrence are even better, emotive and with a real feel for the lighter touch when needed. Lawrence has a very difficult character to like, but she doesn't make a control freak sort of character cartoonish and it's not too unrealistic a representation of this kind of person. The characters aren't too perfect but to me their flaws weren't too heavily exaggerated at the same time. The acting chemistry is sincere and natural.

Personally did think that 'The Christmas House' looked reasonably attractive, the at times tacky decorations aside. Especially the scenery, and the music has a pleasant and nostalgic quality that doesn't become overdone, over-emphasised or too syrupy. The direction was sympathetic but still gave the film momentum when necessary. The dialogue is heartfelt, thoughtful and flows well without being self-indulgent or too flowery. Was surprised at how refreshingly funny some of it was and how smile-worthy delivered it was. The storytelling is far from perfect, but it wasn't dull, was warm hearted, had heart and didn't become too contrived or overly sugary sweet in my view. Some of the situations were not too hard to relate to and were generally fun and heartfelt, even if lack of clarity and ridiculousness creeped in at points.

Concluding, not my definition of great but better than most of the 2020 Hallmark Christmas films. 7/10.